How To Take Your Best Bookstagram Photo Yet; Why Lighting Is So Important

How To Take Your Best Bookstagram Photo Yet; Why Lighting Is So Important

After speaking with some of my followers on Bookstagram, I wanted to share with you guys the most important trick I have learned from my beginning stages of taking photos of objects, and mostly indoors. Before I started taking pictures of books, I was shooting landscape photography. Landscape had its’ own challenges, but I never struggled with attempting to take a picture in my kitchen or how to prevent shadows sneaking in through my windows.

I also wanted to help you guys with one of the most important issues when it comes to bookstagram photography, which is why I wrote this article.

So why is paying attention to lighting so important?

The more natural lighting the better. I cannot stress this enough! Natural lighting has made a world of difference in my photos and I believe that it will do the same for yours, especially with the Iphone or Android. If you have a professional camera, this may vary, but in terms of taking your photos on phones and other devices, this is crucial.

If you are wondering why I think natural lighting makes such a difference, it mostly has to do with shadows and the color tone. Shadows can really effect the look of your photo, and can make or break the composition. Too much shadow, and you may not be able to make out the important details of your photo. Shadows in odd places can also add streaks across your photo that you were not planning for. Taking a photo underneath a kitchen light, for example can also effect the photo because it yellows the entire tone of the photograph. I know I personally really struggled with figuring out lighting for quite a long time before I started to figure out what worked for me. I hope that I can make this easier on you! Here’s an example of my old work (I had no idea what I was doing with lighting, I just knew windows were supposed to help!)

If you are taking bookstagram photographs inside like me, get near the window! This may seem weird after I showed you my photo from above, but finding a window that has even lighting during that specific time in the day is key. I tried one window and decided that it was satisfactory, I also didn’t want to wait for lighting that would work on my photo. I soon learned the importance of patience when it comes to finding the correct lighting. Once I saw what could happen to my photos, I realized the worth in making the effort to find good lighting.

If you take your pictures on the bed, it could be tricky to get near a window (I tried that at first but was not a fan of my lighting). The biggest suggestion I could make is to either move your bed closer to the window, open the drapes or blinds to add lighting, or to choose a different background that you can physically move to your window yourself. What I personally do is bring my background with me to whatever window has the best lighting and capture my photographs there.

To avoid shadows, you may need to take pictures during certain times of day. I prefer to take mine during golden hour (the time during either sunrise or sunset). This creates a softer and warmer glow in my photographs, and really helps the Iphone enhance the detail I am trying to show to my audience. Here’s an example of a photo I was able to take during golden hour:

As you an see, I had no issue with shadows what-so-ever, and the warm glow of light really brought out all of the elements I wanted to show my audience. The lighting spread evenly throughout the photo. You can even make out the label on my candle!

If you cannot take a photo during golden hour, try moving around to different windows of your house or apartment until you find one with the most even shadows. You could also try taking some photos at a cafe, library, school, or wherever you are during golden hour if you background allows for it. Of course, the most important part is just getting natural light. If you can make that step, your already great photos will be enhanced that much more and you will see a huge difference!

I hope you guys enjoyed this segment of Bookstagram 101.

I have just finished writing a book all about creating content specifically on Bookstagram. Preorder a copy by following the link to my book here!

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